WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Shares of leading cable and Internet service providers dropped on Monday after President Barack Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules to save and support net neutrality.
Comcast CMCSA, +1.08% Time Warner Cable TWC, +1.15% Cablevision Systems Corp. CVC, +0.39% and Charter Communications CHTR, +1.59% all saw their stock fall following Obama’s comments on upholding net neutrality and not allowing content providers to pay cable providers and ISPs for access to so-called fast lanes.
Shares of Netflix NFLX, +0.42% , a major user of Internet bandwidth, edged higher.
“In plain English, I’m asking them to recognize that for most Americans the Internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and everyday life,” the president said.
He also issued a video accompanying the statement.
Verizon, VZ, +0.51% has already released a statement admonishing the president’s proposal.
In its statement, Verizon said reclassifying Internet service to define providers as common carriers “would be a radical reversal... that would in and of itself threaten great harm to an open Internet.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a subsequent statement welcoming President Obama’s thoughts and ideas. He also acknowledged the legal bumps of creating rules regarding net neutrality and said this is process that may take more time.
The agency had been targeting the release of rules by the end of the year.
“We must take the time to get the job done correctly, once and for all, in order to successfully protect consumers and innovators online,” Wheeler said in a statement released Monday.